Re: NANFA-- Louisiana collecting trip

William Allen jr. (billandbonnie_at_peoplepc.com)
Sun, 9 Apr 2000 20:07:25 -0700

One minor detail - the type of net referred to is generally called a "cast
net" around here. A "hoop net" is another device entirely. Used frequently
by commercial fishermen, it is a series of hoops connecting by netting to
make a sort of tube and placed (stationary) on the bottom so that the
current flows into the tube, bringing with it large catfish, "buffalo",
"drums" and other food fish.

A cast net is the type of net used by Jesus' disciples in the Bible when
instructed, "Cast your net into the sea", although it is doubtful that
theirs were made of nylon.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce Stallsmith <fundulus_at_hotmail.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2000 3:37 PM
Subject: NANFA-- Louisiana collecting trip

> I've been procrastinating a week but finally the tale comes out. My wife,
> Ruth, and I were able to meet BG Granier and Bessie last Sunday in Port
> Manchac, Louisiana, for a collecting trip. Ruth and I had been in Nawlins
> for a long weekend, so driving out to Port Manchac, off of I-55 at the
head
> of Lake Ponchartrain, was easy. Too easy, in fact; we arrived early at a
> boat launch area that had a sherrif's department substation. We were the
> only non-pickup in the whole lot, parked by the entrance so that we
wouldn't
> miss BG. Within 5 minutes a deputy came roaring up to us in a pickup, with
> the stark greeting "you have a problem?" Once he grudgingly figured out
that
> we weren't there to steal the 2 flatbed trucks parked in front of us he
> pretended to ignore us. ("You inna heap-a trouble, boy!")
>
> BG and Bessie arrived and we drove off down a local road, stopping at
> several smallish sloughs where they ran under the road. If you've never
> collected with BG, you've missed one of the best collecting tools
> around--his throw hoop net, enabling collecting in areas difficult to
> gracefully sample. Between the hoop and a standard dip net we collected
> Lucania parva (Rainwater killifish), Heterandria formosa (Least killifish,
> hadn't seen them for a while!), Fundulus chrysotus and Fundulus notti (and
> Gambusia, of course!).
>
> We decided to drive up into Washington Parish, near Bogalusa across the
> Pearl River from Mississippi. The prize along here is welaka shiners
> (Pteronotropis). Along Route 21 we stopped at Mills Creek, which looked
like
> a backed up drainage ditch at first glance. In a pool not much bigger than
> most peoples' living rooms we collected an amazingly diverse group of fish
> to my still-New England sensibility: Fundulus notti, F. chrysotus,
Elassoma
> zonatum (pygmy sunfish), Lepomis macrochirus (bluegill, of course), L.
> megalotis (longear sunfish), L. punctatus (spotted sunfish), a juvenile
> largemouth bass. This was all in about 10-15 minutes, the source of my
> amazement.
>
> The last stop was Lees Creek, for welaka. The water was fairly high, and
> welaka prefer water a meter or more deep. Sure enough, there was a large
> school of them in a shaded pool about a meter deep. BG's hoop net was
> devastating to them, we collected about 20 of them in several casts (I
have
> slides demonstrating the correct placement...). We also caught one rosyfin
> shiner.
>
> Ruth and I then took off for Huntsville, 'bout 6 hours northeast. Ruth is
> from New Hampshire, and had never seen this much southern Mississippi
> before; Pearl River County is truly the empty quarter of Mississippi,
making
> Meridian or Laurel look like Manhattan(!).
>
> I took a bucket of live fish home with me, too many in truth. The shiners
> (4) didn't make it, but all 9 Heterandria made it fine. The F. notti
arrived
> OK, and seem to be thriving, while the F. chrysotus have been unhappy and
> several died. So I have a Louisiana tank now with a pygmy sunfish, 9 least
> "killifish", an F. notti (small) and a rainwater killifish, and the
> chrysotus and larger notti joined another group of chrysotus in a large
> tank. All of these actually take flake food now, although the pygmy
sunfish
> seemed very happy to be offered a small chunk of earthworm (kinda like my
> darters in another tank).
>
> BG is a great guy to go collecting with. And I would certainly have had
> difficulty finding the creeks in Washington Parish without his guidance.
Now
> I realize that I have to go back with fewer time restraints, and also
bring
> better collecting gear.
>
> So, the season has started.
>
> --Bruce Stallsmith
> Huntsville, AL
>
> ______________________________________________________
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>
>
>
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org